I have recruited, trained and motivated hundreds and hundreds of insurance agents over the past two plus decades. I have found that skills, knowledge and work ethic have less to do with success as their habits do. Here are 5 habits of successful insurance agents I have observed throughout my career.

• Setting Goals—the most successful agents always know where they are going. They know exactly how many calls, emails, ads and networking must be done every hour of every day in order to sell their products to enough clients. If you ask them their goal, they can tell you instantly without looking. They live it every day.

 

 

• Time Management—the most successful insurance agents budget their time just like one would budget their money. They know where they will be every hour of every day. One of my most successful agents once told me, “if I am doing an activity, I ask myself ‘is this making me money?’ if the answer is no, “I stop and do something that will make me money’” There are 24 hours in a day, you decide how they behave.

 

 

• Flexibility—the most successful insurance agents are always willing to change. Competition, regulations and laws are out of our control. We must remain flexible and be willing to learn and change to new things. The fatal phrase of failure is “we have always done it this way”. Some people don’t remember pay phones and Block Buster Video who failed to change. Be flexible with your skills and your systems.

 

 

• Systematic—the most successful insurance agents are systematic with their work. Just like setting goals and managing time, the successful agent works their craft like a factory conveyor belt. Without a consistent system followed daily, there is no consistent sales closed daily. Calls, referrals, follow ups and prospecting are done with an absolute discipline every day without fail.

 

 

• Perseverance—the successful insurance agent experiences the same highs and lows of their lesser counterparts. However, they push harder in the good times and not allow complacency to slow them down. During the tough times, they work even harder to persevere and not allow a tough market to keep them from achieving their goals. Failure is not an option for the successful agent.

 

I have been blessed to work with some of the most successful insurance agents in our industry. These 5 habits are universal to all of them. The main theme I have learned over these years is success breeds success and failure breeds failure, law of attraction. Be careful who you listen to, we become the people we hang out with most often. To your success!

“Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential”. —John C Maxwell

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 2, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, employee benefit specialist, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.